Daniel Jon Peterka - Florida Death Row
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Summary of Offense:
On February 11, 1989, Daniel Jon Peterka was scheduled to report to authorities in Nebraska to begin serving two consecutive one-year prison terms for theft. Prior to surrendering, Peterka revealed to his girlfriend at the time that he did not want to go to jail and that he wanted to get a job and establish himself somewhere else. Peterka appeared in Niceville, Florida, in late February 1989. He moved in with Ronald LeCompte. LeCompte bought a .357 magnum handgun for Peterka as a favor. In April of 1989, Peterka moved to a duplex that he shared with John Russell. Witnesses stated that the two did not have a good relationship.
On June 27, 1989, Peterka acquired a driver’s license with Russell’s name and his own picture. He then cashed a $300 money order sent to Russell by a relative. When Russell realized that he had not received the money order, he became suspicious of Peterka. Russell obtained a copy of the money order from a relative and related his suspicions to the bank. A bank employee, in turn, stated that a formal charge of forgery could begin only when the original copy of the money order was received. A number of witnesses testified that Russell did not plan on confronting Peterka about the missing money order because he was uncomfortable due to the gun being in the house. Peterka’s girlfriend, Frances Thompson, stated that Russell helped her move her belongings out of the duplex on the morning of July 12, 1989. According to Thompson, on the night on July 12, 1989, Peterka appeared at Thompson’s job driving Russell’s car. He took Thompson out to dinner and explained that he was a fugitive and that he did not want go to prison. Frances stayed the night at the duplex and then left for work the next morning. Russell did not show up for work on the morning of July 13, 1989. A co-worker, Gary Johnson, went to the duplex around 9:00 a.m. and stated that he saw Russell’s car in the driveway. Concerned about Russell, the coworker let himself into the duplex via a window when no one answered the door. He noticed that the cushions from the couch were missing and, after locating the gun, noted that it was unloaded. He returned after work and questioned Peterka about Russell. Peterka denied any knowledge of Russell’s whereabouts, stating only that he had left with someone the night before. Johnson filed a missing person report with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department that night.
Deputy Harkins went to the duplex to follow up on the report. Peterka again reiterated that he did not know where Russell was, stating only that he had left with “a long haired guy” the night before. Peterka gave Deputy Harkins a birth certificate as identification, stating that he had lost his driver’s license. Deputy Harkins ran a computer check on Peterka and learned that he was a fugitive from Nebraska and was considered “armed and dangerous.” Peterka was arrested on July 14, 1989, at 1:30 a.m. The deputies searched the duplex and found the gun. Peterka told the deputies that the gun belonged to a friend and showed them the bill of sale. The gun was not confiscated. The deputies found a driver’s license with Peterka’s picture and Russell’s name, Russell’s Social Security card, other identification belonging to Russell, $407, a newspaper clipping advertising jobs in Alaska, and Peterka’s Nebraska driver’s license in Peterka’s wallet. Peterka phoned Frances Thompson from jail and asked her to remove some items from the duplex and save them. Frances found a shovel in the trunk of the victim’s car and noticed that the cushions for the couch were outside. She called the Sheriff’s Department and reported her findings. The gun was transferred to the deputies’ possession and a police search revealed possible bloodstains on the couch were the cushions had been and on the carpet beneath the couch. Bloodstains were also found in the trunk of the car and on the tail lights.
On July 18, 1989, Peterka called his boss, “Shorty” Purvis, and asked him to visit him in jail. During their meeting, Peterka admitted killing Russell. Peterka told police that he had forged Russell’s signature on the money order and that he had paid Russell $100 to use his identification. When discussing the money order, Russell started shoving Peterak and the two ended up fighting in the living room. Both reached for the gun, and Peterka won. As Russell got up from the couch, the gun accidentally went off and shot Russell in the top of the head. Peterka wrapped Russell’s body in a rug and drove him to a remote part of Eglin Air Force Base and buried him in a shallow grave. Peterka took officials to the body. The medical examiner testified that the wound was consistent with the victim being shot from behind while he was in a reclining position. A firearms expert testified that the gun used to kill Russell was in good working order and that it would not fire accidentally, due to the fact that the gun had two safety mechanisms.
Peterka was sentenced to death in Okaloosa County on April 25, 1990.